Mattis tells Army to be prepared
Diplomacy remains preferred plan to deal with N. Korea
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Monday told the U.S. Army to be ready with military options on North Korea, but emphasized that efforts to deal with Pyongyang were being led diplomatically.
“There is one thing the U.S. Army can do and that is you have got to be ready to ensure that we have military options that our president can employ if needed,” Mattis said in a speech at an annual U.S. Army conference.
“We currently are in a diplomatically led effort, and how many times have you seen the U.N. Security Council vote unanimously, now twice in a row, to impose stronger sanctions on North Korea,” Mattis said.
Meanwhile, Russia and China called for restraint on North Korea on Monday after President Donald Trump warned over the weekend that “only one thing will work” in dealing with Pyongyang, hinting that military action was on his mind.
When asked what Russia made of Trump’s comments, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call:
“Moscow has called and continues to call on the parties involved in the conflict and on those who have anything to do with this issue to exercise restraint and to avoid any steps that would only worsen the situation.”
In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying repeated China’s position that all parties exercise restraint, describing the situation as extremely complex and serious.
China hopes all sides do nothing to irritate each other or worsen the problem and speak and act cautiously, she told a daily news briefing.
Trump repeatedly has made clear his distaste for dialogue with North Korea.
“Our country has been unsuccessfully dealing with North Korea for 25 years, giving billions of dollars & getting nothing. Policy didn’t work!” Trump said in a Twitter post on Monday.